missing people impact report 2013-14

A lifeline when someone disappears 1

Impact Report2013-14

2 A lifeline when someone disappears A lifeline when someone disappears 3

It was poignant to mark our 20th anniversary this year by planting a ‘memory tree’ close to where the charity was founded and where our central office is today. The ceremony was attended by families with missing loved ones and our founders Mary Asprey OBE and Janet Newman OBE. The charity has grown and developed in many ways over the last 20 years, but our heart is in the same place as the day we started – reaching out to families with a missing loved one, helping to find missing people and supporting the children and adults who are missing.

Our team provides a service, grounded in the needs of the people who reach out for help. One team member reflected on a recent day -

“What a mixture of calls today. From one call to the next you never know who or what you will be dealing with. I talked to a young woman responding to our letter, who had been out of contact with her family for

14 years and was overwhelmed to know she was important to them; I spoke to a police officer asking us to cancel publicity for a missing man, confirming, sadly that they have found a body they believed to be his; and I spent nearly an hour talking to a teenager who ran away from home because he was afraid. We helped him to connect to a social worker and passed a message back to his family.”

We have proudly hosted visits to the charity from key partners including the National Crime Agency and Sir Bob Geldof, who met and personally thanked every staff member and volunteer. Our volunteering team has increased beyond expectations. It was a great day when volunteer Albert and I met the Queen as we received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award.

I’d like to thank all the supporters and friends of Missing People, and our staff and volunteers and Trustees on this journey. You help us to be a lifeline when someone disappears and you are helping us towards our vision that every missing person is found safe.

2013/14 has been an important year for Missing People, marking our twentieth anniversary. We held our first ever Gala dinner, bringing together supporters and new friends to raise funds to support the charity to be a lifeline when someone disappears.

A key milestone for the charity has been the development of the enhanced Child Rescue Alert system, along with our partners at the National Crime Agency CEOP Command and Groupcall, enabling critical live alerts to be issued to the public following an abduction or disappearance.

The charity continues to be a powerful advocate for the families of missing people. The Presumption of Death Act 2013 received Royal Assent in March 2013, allowing families across the UK access to a comprehensive and straightforward system to resolve the affairs of a missing loved one who it is believed has died. Missing People is now campaigning for Guardianship legislation, which would allow

families to apply for the legal right to manage a missing loved one’s finances and affairs whilst they are missing.

We continue to support police and families by appealing for missing people nationally and locally through posters, appeal days and media appeals. The 2013 #TheBigTweet generated 58,031 retweets and five missing children featured were subsequently found safe and well.

We have written our three-year strategic plan with ambitions to raise £3 million a year to enable us to support thousands more missing people and their families. This wouldn’t be possible without the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, BHS and the Big Lottery Fund to name but a few.

The ongoing achievements of the charity owe huge amounts to the passion and dedication of our staff, Trustees, 375 volunteers, and the generosity of our individual and corporate supporters. Having celebrated twenty years of helping to find, support and reconnect missing children and vulnerable adults, and supporting families whilst their loved ones are missing, we look ahead with a renewed vision that every missing person is found safe.

Welcome from Jo Youle, Chief Executive

2 A lifeline when someone disappears

Chairman’s introduction

2012/13 has been another year of great progress for Missing People in achieving its strategic aims.

We started the year with the launch of 116 000 in May 2012 at Downing Street, and ended it with the passing of The Presumption of Death Act in March 2013. In the intervening months we were honoured with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award in recognition of our outstanding volunteer programme. The charity has achieved significantly higher public awareness with pro bono support from advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) and the Outdoor Media Centre, and thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

We have increased service delivery levels following the decision of the Trustees to keep investing despite the difficult economic climate, growing our front line team by 19% and investing in our volunteer programme.

Our on-going progress would not be possible without the passion and commitment of our employees, volunteers and Trustees and the generosity of our supporters.

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary we look forward to another 20 years of helping to find, support and reconnect missing children and adults, and of supporting families who are living in limbo.

John ReissChairman

Chief Executive’s welcome

I have been part of Missing People’s journey over the last 10 years and it was a proud day in December when I became Chief Executive, taking the helm from our esteemed previous Chief Executive, Martin Houghton-Brown. I consider it a privilege to lead an organisation that is so committed and passionate about being a lifeline when someone disappears. It is a charity with a big heart and big aspiration.

Over the next year we will be extending the lifeline by building our fantastic volunteer team in local communities across the UK, hosting the first conference for families, working with police partners and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to reach more missing people and support the delivery of child rescue alerts, and working with charity partners including Samaritans to reach out to missing and suicidal adults.

Partnerships are key to the work we do and the support of our funders, Benefactors and statutory partners – including the Home Office – is vital. I’d like to thank you for being on this journey with us.

Jo YouleChief Executive

MIR_FRIFINAL2013.indd 2 16/08/2013 11:27

3A lifeline when someone disappears

Chairman’s introduction

2012/13 has been another year of great progress for Missing People in achieving its strategic aims.

We started the year with the launch of 116 000 in May 2012 at Downing Street, and ended it with the passing of The Presumption of Death Act in March 2013. In the intervening months we were honoured with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award in recognition of our outstanding volunteer programme. The charity has achieved significantly higher public awareness with pro bono support from advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) and the Outdoor Media Centre, and thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

We have increased service delivery levels following the decision of the Trustees to keep investing despite the difficult economic climate, growing our front line team by 19% and investing in our volunteer programme.

Our on-going progress would not be possible without the passion and commitment of our employees, volunteers and Trustees and the generosity of our supporters.

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary we look forward to another 20 years of helping to find, support and reconnect missing children and adults, and of supporting families who are living in limbo.

John ReissChairman

Chief Executive’s welcome

I have been part of Missing People’s journey over the last 10 years and it was a proud day in December when I became Chief Executive, taking the helm from our esteemed previous Chief Executive, Martin Houghton-Brown. I consider it a privilege to lead an organisation that is so committed and passionate about being a lifeline when someone disappears. It is a charity with a big heart and big aspiration.

Over the next year we will be extending the lifeline by building our fantastic volunteer team in local communities across the UK, hosting the first conference for families, working with police partners and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to reach more missing people and support the delivery of child rescue alerts, and working with charity partners including Samaritans to reach out to missing and suicidal adults.

Partnerships are key to the work we do and the support of our funders, Benefactors and statutory partners – including the Home Office – is vital. I’d like to thank you for being on this journey with us.

Jo YouleChief Executive


Introduction from John Reiss, Chairman

A lifeline when someone disappears 54 A lifeline when someone disappears

Our year in numbers


1,126missing children and adults reconnectedwith a place of safety

£10,000,000of digital billboard space donated by the Outdoor Media Centre

3,579hours of support provided to national police agencies searching for missing people

hours donated byour amazing volunteers

17,845

175,000 downloads of our online information and guidance products about missing

4,105missing children and adults

safeguarded

56,367 telephone calls, texts and emails received from people affected by missing

860new publicity appeals launched for missing people

Our vision and mission

Around 250,000 people are reported missing in the UK every year. Many others are not reported missing, but find themselves alone and in need of support.

Our VisionOur vision is that every missing child, adult and their families left behind might find help, hope and a safe way to reconnect.

Our MissionOur mission is to be a lifeline when someone disappears.

Our free helplines are open 24 hours a day, providing information and support to missing children, missing adults and their families.


Our year in numbers






17,845



safeguarded









Our year in numbers






17,845



safeguarded









Our year in numbers






17,845



safeguarded









Our year in numbers






17,845



safeguarded









Our year in numbers






17,845



safeguarded









Our year in numbers


Supporting and reconnecting missing people The search

Every two minutes, someone goes missing in the UK. Around two-thirds are children. For twenty years Missing People has been there around the clock, every day of the year, helping to raise public awareness of missing people and being a

and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We support missing people to

This year Missing People reconnected 755 missing adults and 371 missing children

people aged under 18 who were missing or thinking of leaving home. We helped many missing adults who were not yet ready to speak to their friends and family directly, through our ‘message home’ service.

“Our son Andrew went missing seven years ago when he was just 14.

In

Kevin Gosden, father of Andrew Gosden who went missing in 2007


display posters locally on our behalf. #TheBigTweet for missing children goes from strength-to-strength and has helped our social media presence

We know how much publicity means to the families we support. We are extremely grateful to the members of the Outdoor Media Centre who provide digital billboard space on a pro bono basis, taking our appeals to high streets and other prime sites across the UK to reach millions of people. We are also grateful to The Big Issue, The Metro, The Mirror, The Pavement and EMCOR who provide regular space for our appeals.

Our regional teams have run appeal days across more areas of the country than ever before. Volunteers raise awareness of local missing people

Neil Morris, Founder and Managing Director of Grand Visual, one of the Outdoor Media Centre members, said: “We are delighted with the reach this campaign has achieved to date for families of missing people like Andew Gosden.

out what I wanted to say about going missing. Then the doctor

up to him. For me it’s important to talk about being missing with someone who understands.”

(Johnny’s story of being reported missing from psychiatric care, Geographies of Missing People, 2013 (Missing People, Missing Voices p12)


We have been working with the CEOP Command of the National Crime Agency to develop an enhanced UK-wide Child Rescue Alert system. The partnership is supported by Sir Bob Geldolf’s company Groupcall, who provide the technological infrastructure to enable members of the public to receive alerts by text message and email.

We have finalised our protocols with CEOP Command on how to authorise and manage a live Child Rescue Alert and have trained staff and volunteers on the process. We participated in a successful trial of a new enhanced Child Rescue Alert with Police Scotland.

A Child Rescue Alert will be activated when a child is known to have been abducted or their life is believed to be at immediate risk.

Child Rescue Alert

The project is funded by:

• Players of People’s Postcode Lottery through a £225,000 award from their Dream Fund, which provides organisations with the chance to deliver a project they have always dreamed of, but never had the opportunity to bring to life

• The EU through a €100,000 award as part of a programme to set up Child Abduction Alert mechanisms across Europe

Lawrence Royston, Managing Director of Groupcall explains why it was so important for them to be involved, “Once this system is in place, there is potential to attract a large public following within a few months, ensuring that if a child is abducted and an alert is issued, a very high number of people will be aware and on the look-out for anything unusual within a very short space of time. Being given the opportunity to be involved in such a worthy and incredibly important project was an honour for us.”



Family support

We continue to offer an expanded range of emotional and practical support services for families who are living with the trauma of a missing loved one. These include: our 24 hour helpline; support from a dedicated family support worker; appeals for their missing person; an online family forum and a bespoke telephone counselling service. This year we supported the families of 1,981 missing people. We enhanced the role of our telephone counsellors to include youth related work and to increase referrals to this important service as well as extending the number of sessions provided.

“I was unsure if the counselling would be of benefit to me but would now recommend it to anyone. It has helped me to cope with my everyday life and I have learnt how to deal with my thoughts and emotions in a positive way.” One client who used our telephone counselling service

We also hold annual events aimed at bringing families together. These include the Miles for Missing People run and a series of Christmas Carol Services around the country, enabling families to share their stories and, most importantly, to meet other people who have experienced missing. One of the highlights of the year was our first ever conference for families of missing people which took place in London on 7 September 2013.

“The charity was amazing. They surpassed my expectations. Everyone I spoke to was exceedingly polite, kind and compassionate. Thank you so much.” Quote from family feedback survey

We are exploring partnerships with other organisations including CRUSE Counselling to provide referrals for bereavement counselling, and we are considering how we work with RELATE and other organisations to better support family relationships through a missing incident or after the return of a missing person.

We remain committed to developing our services in partnership with the families who use them. We monitor and evaluate the support we provide via our family feedback survey, and we are grateful to those 168 family members who felt able to take part. Satisfaction with our services remains extremely high across a range of measures, with 96% of families saying they would recommend Missing People to someone in a similar situation.

We were delighted when Helen Alves, Senior Services Manager, won the 2013 Marsh Trust award for outstanding achievement for her work with children and families. The award recognised her exceptional level of care and passion in developing services to best meet the needs of families and she is a true champion of the families we support.



Partnership working

We work in close partnership with the police and other charities to provide services when a person goes missing.

During the year we worked with police forces across the UK on 19,927 occasions, providing an estimated 3,579 hours of support.

This year saw an increase in the number of TextSafe® messages we sent, reaching out to 927 children and 818 adults (previously 644 and 501 respectively) on behalf of 42 police forces (previously 20). Since November 2013, seven police forces have been piloting ‘Suicide Risk TextSafe’ which is a new outreach service delivered in partnership with Samaritans. At police request we send a text message to a missing, suicidal adult and they then receive a support call from a Samaritan.

This year we supported the Metropolitan Police Services (MPS) to design a new missing person policy as part of their external ‘Challenge Panel’ and assisted several other police forces with matters surrounding policy and best practice. Furthermore, we sat on the Advisory Board to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of

Constabulary (HMIC) around their upcoming inspections of police missing person procedures.

We have established a stronger relationship with the newly formed Police Scotland and now advise them at the highest level as part of an advisory panel held within Scottish Government. In Wales we have recruited a Partnerships Coordinator who focusses solely on increasing our reach to missing people and families via the four Welsh police forces. Our Partnerships Coordinator for England has single points of contact in every police force and Metropolitan Borough.

18 police forces have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with us during the year.

In partnership with the National Crime Agency, we supported the delivery of training to Senior Detectives on new Child Rescue Alert Procedures and high profile disappearances. We also provided training for Polish government and law enforcement and delivered the first international conference on missing, held in Portsmouth.

“Cumbria Police treat all Missing From Home investigations seriously and it is good to know that we can work together with Missing People to assist in the safeguarding and protection of these people when they need it most.” Jenny Beattie, Sargent, Public Protection Unit, Cumbria Police



Tree of Hope

May the roots of the trees that we plant in the dirt…

Spread out through the ground and grow in the earth.

The very same earth our loved ones walk on.

And each shoot that springs up gives us faith to be strong

And each branch that it grows be our hope and our prayers.

And each leaf on this planet represent all our tears

Every raindrop that nourishes be the touch of your kiss.

And every bloom bear a colour for the ones that we miss.Kermit Leveridge

To find out more about Kermit’s band, Blind Arcade go to:

www.superweirdsubstance.com



Research, policy and campaigns

In June 2013 we hosted the First International Conference on Missing Children and Adults in partnership with the Centre for the Study of Missing People, the UK Missing Persons Bureau and CEOP. Speakers included Ann Coffey MP (Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Runaway and Missing Children and Adults), Chief Constable Pat Geenty (National Policing Lead on Missing) and Jo Youle, together with Sarah Godwin and Sharon Lee (family representatives). The conference was attended by over 200 delegates representing academics, police forces and practitioners from a wide range of countries.

We published Living in Limbo: Five Years On. This report documents and celebrates our progress in improving family support since the original Living in Limbo report detailed the devastating emotional, social, financial, legal and practical impacts that families can face when a loved one goes missing. The new report highlights a number of significant achievements, including the Presumption of Death Act 2013 and the launch of our telephone counselling service for families.

Our Missing Rights Campaign continued to call for improved legal support for families of missing people. Over the past year we supported the Ministry of Justice to develop consultation proposals for guardianship powers which, if introduced, would enable families to apply to the courts to be able to manage a missing loved one’s legal and financial affairs. We were also ‘Highly Commended’ at the Third Sector Excellence Awards in September 2013 for the Presumption of Death strand of the campaign.

We are very grateful for the ongoing support of our pro bono lawyers at Clifford Chance for our Missing Rights Campaign.

We also focused on advocating for improved support and services for missing children. We responded to a number of relevant government consultations this year, including submitting both a charity response and a joint response from the English Coalition for Runaway Children to the Department for Education consultation on the statutory guidance for children who run away or go missing from home or care. The final version of the guidance includes almost all of the key changes we suggested, which all aimed to ensure missing children get better support and are effectively safeguarded.



Our volunteers

Volunteers are the lifeblood of Missing People. We simply could not provide all the services that we do, free of charge, without them.

During the course of the year a record breaking 375 people volunteered with us across the UK and donated an incredible 17,845 hours of their time to activities as varied as supporting our research work, answering helpline calls, running appeal days, and responding to posts on our social media channels.

their wellbeing and 81% believe volunteering has improved their skills, showing that it is not just the people we support who benefit from volunteering with Missing People.


“Just recently I helped a gentleman in Jamaica who rang needing advice regarding who to contact in England as he was very worried about his sister. The gentleman concerned rang back several times for help during my shift and we talked through lots of different options. He was so thankful that he could speak to someone who was able to give him some helpful information and advice as he was so far away.” Helpline volunteer

Our annual volunteer survey revealed an amazing 99% of our volunteers are proud to volunteer for Missing People. 83% say it has improved

“I like helping people going through a difficult time if someone is missing. If I pick up a call and it’s not a missing person/family of a missing person but someone having a difficult time it’s nice to be there for them. I also like the fact that it’s completely different to what I do for my day job.” Helpline volunteer

We are seeing increasing numbers of people volunteering with our local campaigns team which now has activity across six police regions, with a further 14 in development. This led to coverage for local disappearances across 35 appeal days, and enabled us to identify more than 1,200 prospective donors.


Our Supporters One of our intrepid supporters, Omar Ralph trekked for 10 days high above dusty plains and huge glaciers to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, raising £3,240 for Missing People.

Many families whose loved ones are missing take part in Miles for Missing People which raised more than £30,000 this year. All runners carry a poster on their back to remember someone who is missing and to highlight their appeal. Gerry McCann took on the world’s largest triathlon, which attracts over 13,000 participants to Docklands in London and Kate McCann ran the London Marathon.

The Cycle Challenge 2013 involved 16 both seasoned and first time cyclists and raised £30,644. In 2014-5 we hope to expand the number of challenge events we run.

Thank you so much for your contributions!

We are grateful to the many companies, trusts and foundations that have made donations or given their services for free. This includes Waitrose which donates office and helpline space, and members of the Outdoor Media Centre who carry our appeals on digital billboard advertising space across the country.


We are especially grateful to everyone who in difficult economic times has made a donation to the charity this year, or supported us by attending or holding a fundraising event.

Once again, players of People’s Postcode Lottery have continued their incredible support for the work we do, donating more than £2.9 million to date, and we are especially grateful for an award of £225,000 from their Dream Fund (details of which are on pages 8/9).

Our partnership with BHS has raised well over £50,000 and we are grateful to staff and customers around the country who find new ways of supporting us.

Rock Choir continue to provide a unique partnership – raising both money and voices, bringing music and hope to many of our events across the country



Income Expenditure

This year, thanks to the generosity of all of our supporters, the charity raised more than £2.2 million, enabling us to be a lifeline when someone disappears. We continued to expand our fundraising activities and partnerships and introduced successful special events for the first time.

Following trustees’ agreement to invest an exceptional gift from the previous year into this current year we recorded a small deficit of £59,000*. The deficit was lower than planned, enabling a more robust carry through to next year.

This year we were delighted to receive new funding awards from both the European Commission and players of the People’s Postcode Lottery to launch an enhanced Child Rescue Alert system in the UK. We are hugely grateful to all of the supporters who have generously funded our work this year. Details can be found on pages 20-21.

Total income * £2,211,000

Total expenditure was 1% higher than last year and we made every pound spent count. We plan to increase spending further on charitable activities during the coming year, subject to achievement of income targets. Thanks to significant pro bono support (including free office accommodation, case publicity and legal services) we can deliver significant additional value for every £1 donated to help find more missing people safe and well.

At the end of the year, unrestricted cash reserves were a little over four and a half months’ operating costs. Our policy is that we should hold no less than three months’ and no more than six months’.

Total expenditure * £2,270,000

10%

4%

21%

2%

63%

31%

16%

8%

16%

29%

Trusts and foundations £681,000 Frontline services £1,437,000

Statutory income £362,000 Policy and research £220,000

Corporate partners £631,000 Special events £82,000

Individuals and community £355,000 Cost of generating funds £485,000

Special events £182,000 Governance £46,000

* Excluding discontinued charity shops


Thank you

Our supporters (£5,000 or more)

Adint Charitable Trust, BBC Children in Need , Barclays, BHS, Big Lottery Fund, CHK Charities Ltd, City Bridge Trust, Comic Relief, Dulverton Trust, EBM Charitable Trust, Edith Murphy Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, European Commission , Home Office, John Coates Charitable Trust, John Ellerman Foundation, Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales, Mildred Duveen Charitable Trust, Oak Foundation, People’s Postcode Lottery, Rock Choir, Saintbury Trust, StreetSmart, Sylvia Adams Charitable Trust, Tesco Charity Trust, Tracesmart and Valentine Charitable Trust.

Our benefactors

Jude and Simon AdamsdaleJod and Andrew BarkerBrenda Blethyn OBEDoug D’Arcy Monica DolanVernon and Angela FlynnJon Macintosh

Our Royal Patron

HRH the Duchess of Gloucester GCVO

Our ambassadors

Brendra BlethynJulie EtchinghamAmanda LambKate McCannKirsten O’BrienFiona PhillipsCaroline Redman-LusherAlistair Stewart OBEMartin Houghton-Brown

Our volunteers

Donations of time are as important to us as donations of money, and it wouldn’t be possible for us to deliver our wide range of services without our fantastic, dedicated team of volunteers. Whether it is holding an appeal day, answering the helpline, being a Trustee, or contacting organisations to display an appeal poster, we value the incredible skills, enthusiasm and knowledge they bring and appreciate their unique contribution. We’d like to pass on our thanks to each and every one of you!

We would like to thank everyone who has allowed us to use quotes in this report. Unless stated, quotes have been anonymised to protect confidentiality.

Our development board

Jon Macintosh (Chair)Tic BridgemanDoug D’Arcy Richard DaviesDamien Devine Sarah Godwin Katharine Hawkesbury Victoria Jilla John Reiss Tom Willett Richard Youle

Our patrons

Sir Richard BransonStephen FryLorraine KellySir Trevor McDonald OBESir Cliff Richard OBEJohn Stapleton

Our family representatives

Elizabeth TempletonRachel EliasNadine FudgeVicki DerrickNicki DurbinKerry NeedhamTricia Cooper

Peter LawrenceSarah GodwinVal NettlesBen MooreTrish CameronMonique TennantAlexandra Hicks

The following companies and individuals for their gifts of time and resources

BDP, Beggars Group, Catalyst, Clifford Chance, EMCOR, Frasia Wright, Grand Visual, Jetlogic, Metro, Outdoor Media Centre, Philip Hollis, Piccadilly Group, The Big Issue, The Mirror, The Sun, The Pavement, Waitrose and William Grant.

We could not be a lifeline when someone disappears without the generosity of:

Martin Mills MBEJohn ReissCaroline and John ShelfordJane and Peter ThorneTom WillettRichard Youle


What’s coming up in 2014-15 How you can help

Children and young people

We are looking to expand and reach out to more young people in different ways and are developing a marketing strategy to raise awareness and increase our reach among children and young people, which will be based on an ongoing consultation with children and young people to ensure services meet their needs.

When the search is over

We have been awarded nearly £500,000 over three years from the Big Lottery Fund in Wales through their Big Innovation programme to develop a new and innovative service to people in Wales who have returned after being missing and their families. The project aims to provide tangible support in the immediate aftermath of a loved one returning home. The project will deliver:

• New referral routes to enable people to better access services

• Improved partnership working with police and other agencies

• ‘After care’ support by phone, email or text by our helpline team

• A new TextReturn® service so a missing people is swiftly alerted to the support available when they have returned home

• New guidance materials available in Welsh

• New publicity opportunities to help find missing people in Wales

A message from our Patron, Sir Trevor McDonald OBE

An estimated 250,000 people go missing every year in the UK. For each and every family, their missing loved one is their world. Without them they are left torn and empty, struggling to understand.

I have met and spoken with families living with this unspeakable loss and they all say the same thing – the pain of not knowing, and the fear of never knowing, is something they live with every day.

That is why your support is so important. With your help we can reach more families experiencing this most difficult of situations. Every single donation really does make a difference.

Please join me in continuing to support this incredible charity - together we are a lifeline for the families of missing people.

Thank you.

Please would you consider one of the following ways of supporting our invaluable work:

• making a regular or one-off donation to Missing People by direct debit or text

• hold a fundraising event such as an ‘Everything Stops for Tea’ party

• make a donation in tribute of a loved one

• take part in one of the variety of challenge events from cycling to marathons

• become a Benefactor by pledging to give £1,000 or more each year

• leave a gift in your will

• or nominate us as to be your company’s ‘charity of the year’

Please call Missing People on Freephone 0800 MISSING (0800 6477464) or visit our website www.missingpeople.org.uk for more information or to make a donation today.

Could you make a regular or one-off donation to Missing People, hold a fundraising event, become a Benefactor (pledging to give £1000 or more each year), leave a gift in your will or nominate us as your company’s ‘charity of the year’?

Please call Missing People on 0800 MISSING (0800 6477464) or visit our website www.missingpeople.org.ukfor more information or tomake a donation today.


What’s coming up

We will continue to develop exciting new partnerships this year.

• We will partner with CEOP to enhance the delivery of Child Rescue Alert in the UK. • We will work with the Tavistock Institute to explore and develop our understanding of therapeutic and psychological

practitioner training. • We will partner with Samaritans to deliver TextSafe® in order to directly reach out to suicidal and missing adults and extend

our services to more vulnerable adults.• We will partner with Depaul UK to increase our joint working.• We will provide input to the Metropolitan Police Service missing persons procedure as a member of their advisory board,

and work with the 23 forces that use the COMPACT database to enable them to generate automated referrals to our services when someone is reported missing. We also plan to work with selected local forces to pilot post-missing follow-up interviews via our 116 000 helpline.

• Alongside our pro bono legal advisers at Clifford Chance, we will be assisting the Ministry of Justice whilst they develop proposals for a new power of guardianship, to enable families of missing people to deal with financial and legal issues when someone is missing. The proposals are due to be published for consultation by the end of 2013.

We will also be undertaking our biggest ever recruitment drive, enlisting the help of regional volunteers all over the UK to hold Search Days in their communities.

How you can help

A message from our Patron, Sir Trevor McDonald OBE

An estimated 250,000 people go missing every year in the UK. For each and every family, their missing loved one is their world. Without them they are left torn and empty, struggling to understand.

I have met and spoken with families living with this unspeakable loss and they all say the same thing – the pain of not knowing, and the fear of never knowing, is something they live with every day.

That is why your support is so important. With your help we can reach more families experiencing this most difficult of situations. Every single donation really does make a difference.

Please join me in continuing to support this incredible charity - together we are a lifeline for the families of missing people.

Thank you.

Sir Trevor McDonald OBE


Missing People is very grateful to the following organisations for their fantastic support in preparation for the launch of the enhanced Child Rescue Alert:

WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING SUPPORTERS. WITHOUT YOU WE SIMPLY COULD NOT BE A 24/7 LIFELINE TODAY:

In addition, we would like to thank all of those who give us regular donations, plus those who support us privately – you know who you are. Thank you.

Missing People 284 Upper Richmond Road West, London SW14 7JE.

Tel: 020 8392 4590 Fax: 020 8878 7752 www.missingpeople.org.uk

f missingpeople.uk @missingpeople

Missing People Ltd is incorporated in England and Wales. Registered office is at the above address. Registered Company No. 2814202. Registered Charity No. 1020419.

missing people impact report 2013-14

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